US Chapter Luncheon "New Developments in ESG Regulations"

Taylor Pullins is a partner in the Global Environmental & Climate Change Practice and the Global Mergers & Acquisitions Practice in the Houston office of White & Case. Taylor represents clients, particularly in the energy industry, in a broad range of environmental, health and safety (EHS) and environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) matters.

His transactional practice involves the drafting and negotiating of environmental terms and indemnity provisions in complex business transactions, including mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, project financings and security offerings. He has significant experience counseling clients on environmental permitting, enforcement defense matters, environmental litigation, internal investigations, and a broad range of environmental/regulatory matters affecting his clients’ operations. In addition, Taylor assists clients on complex policy and business decisions relating to evolving regulatory and societal expectations around climate change and other ESG matters.

Prior to White & Case, Taylor served as Managing Counsel, Director of Sustainability, and Assistant Corporate Secretary at Noble Energy where he led EHS and regulatory legal matters across the company’s portfolio of domestic and international energy assets. In that role, his practice focused on counseling clients through complex regulatory challenges, remedial and environmental enforcement matters, environmental litigation, and the resolution of environmental liabilities encountered in transactions. Taylor also led Noble Energy’s sustainability efforts, including their climate and sustainability reporting.

Heather Palmer is an award-winning environmental and energy partner in the Houston office of Sidley Austin LLP.  Heather also serves as a co-leader of the firm’s environmental, social, and governance (ESG) and climate change practices and she has been recognized for her work on ESG matters. Heather plays a strategic role in advising clients on a broad range of ESG issues and related risks, including the disclosure of climate change risks in SEC filings, the review of shareholder proposals relating to ESG topics, the development of corporate ESG programs and goals, the establishment of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction targets, the preparation of sustainability and corporate responsibility reports, and the sustainable sourcing of products and raw materials.

Her practice also focuses on environmental law, counseling clients on regulatory requirements, assisting them in the evaluation and negotiation of corporate and real estate transactions, supporting them in the development of environmental management systems (EMS), and advising them on environmental disclosure requirements. Her energy industry experience includes advising clients in the oil and gas, refining, chemicals, manufacturing, power, and renewables sectors on environmental compliance and the allocation of environmental liabilities in mergers and acquisitions. Heather also advises clients on carbon capture, utilization, and sequestration (CCUS) matters.